Quantradyne APOD-33 dropship
:For the StarCraft II multiplayer unit, see medivac dropship. For other meanings of the term, see Dropship (disambiguation) The Quantradyne APOD-33 dropship is a terran aerospace transport. Overview ]] Originally designed by the Terran Confederacy,McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-1-4165-5083-9. the Quantradyne APOD-33 dropshipHickman, Tracy. StarCraft: Speed of Darkness. Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, May 21, 2002. ISBN 0-671-04150-9. is a heavily armored tactical transport equipped for both atmospheric and deep space flight. Early experiments to arm dropships (including ordnance packages for an air-to-ground role)Banshee. Accessed on 2008-01-28 were abandoned in favor of maximizing payload capacity.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. By 2480, the modern dropship was in use. The Colonial Fleet was known for maintaining high standards for its dropship pilots, the PEB (Preferred Experience Base) requiring an applicant to possess a combat pilot certification and hot-zone certification before being allowed access to a dropship.Star Fleet. Accessed on 2008-01-28 Such pilots can operate alone, although a nav/comm. console is set behind the pilot's seat.Grubb, Jeff (February 27, 2001). StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0671-04148-9. Dropships are designed to carry anything from troops to siege tanks in both safety and speed. Landings are usually carried out conventionally, the dropship's single aft ramp and twin plasma engines allowing easy deployment, the engines shift their angles to allow this. However, soldiers can also rappel down using ropes.Mesta, Gabriel (July 1, 2001). StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04149-5. APOD-33 dropships are equipped with extraction fields and maglev linesBill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes. Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast, March 1, 2000. ISBN 0-7869-1618-4. in case the terrain is too difficult to land on. Despite these abilities, dropships possess a number of shortcomings. They are difficult to maneuver and are prone to mechanical failures and aren't exactly the most comfortable transport craft, the interior's temperatures usually uncomfortably hot, even more so during re-entry. Cooling units are installed to offset this along with air scrubbers. Restraining bars are present for the transport of passengers and overhead racks for the transport of equipment and/or belongings. The dropship's power bus is also compatible with the CMC-300 combat suit. A user can 'jack in' to the power bus and view the dropship's surroundings via a sensor system, the image being transferred to the suit's HUD. Ammunition packs and stimulant dispensers are also featured. Dropships are frequently attatched to capital ships such as troopshipsDietz, William C. (April 6, 2010). StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1416-55084-6. and battlecruisers. Game Unit StarCraft Dropships are too slow to outrun aerial hunters like mutalisks, Scouts, and Wraiths. If destroyed any units being carried are lost as well. While it has 8 slots like the shuttle and evolved overlord, the power of StimPacked infantry means a dropship can carry substantial firepower. Compared to its zerg and protoss counterparts (overlord and shuttle), the dropship has a faster speed than the overlord despite having a poor acceleration and is less fragile than the shuttle but slower. A fleet of dropships is often used to offload units directly on top of or near an enemy base. These "drops" are a key strategy for many terran players. Upgrades Quotations :See: StarCraft I Dropship Quotations Image:Dropship SC1 Game2.png|StarCraft I dropship wireframe Image: Dropship Profile.jpg|The dropship's profile in StarCraft I StarCraft: Ghost StarCraft: Ghost concept art depicts "assault dropships". The terrans also used the Grizzly as an (armed) transport.2006-02-09. Grizzly. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-06. StarCraft II The dropship used to be very similar to the StarCraft I version. It has been given a healing ability, transforming it into the medivac dropship; thus, the dropship can no longer be built in StarCraft II.Cavez. 2008-03-11. Medic is out currently, heal to Dropship? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-03-11. The dropship touched down to unload units,Admin. 2007-10-28. Starcraft 2 Terran Units. StarCraft 2 Info. Accessed 2008-04-05. behavior that was previously seen in the original StarCraft alpha, but not the final edition.Lord of Ascension. 2007-09-28. StarCraft Evolution. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02. There is a one second delay between every dropped unit.1) Reapers are much faster for raiding. In dropping units (like Marines), there is a 1 second delay between each unit that is dropped. In that 8 seconds, to drop all 8 Marines, you can do a lot of damage with Reapers. Karune. 2008-04-07. Medic/Reaper/Medevac Compilation:Cavez/Karune. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-04-07. Blizzard was toying with the possibility of returning the dropship and making the medivac dropship an available upgrade in June 2008.2008-06-24. Fansite Q & A With Dustin Browder, p3. StarCraft Wire. Accessed on 2008-06-24. Another dropship to feature within the game is the Hercules dropship, which is used to transport thors.Destructoid - Destructoid interview: StarCraft II's Dustin Browder. Destructoid. June 29, 2009. Last accessed: June 29, 2009. Known Dropships *''Daddy's Girl'' *''Fat Girl'' *''Sleepwalker'' *''Sweetie Pie'' *''Valkyrie Vixen'' Known Dropship Pilots *Captain Julian Byrne *Captain Tegis Marz *Captain Morrow *Graham O'Brien *Black Morgan Trivia The dropship's design, pilot personality, and unit quotations are heavily modelled or borrowed from the one found in movie Aliens. References Category:StarCraft: Ghost Terran units Category:StarCraft II Terran campaign units Category:Terran starship classes Category:Terran dropships Category:Transports